Hennes & Mauritz AB, Europe’s second-largest clothes retailer, said sales in March rose at the fastest pace in at least 15 months, beating analysts’ estimates, as designs by Madonna lured shoppers.

The stock rose to a record. Revenue from stores open at least a year gained 17 percent, the Stockholm-based company said today in a statement. The median estimate of 16 analysts polled by SME Direkt was for growth of 9.5 percent. Total sales surged 29 percent in the month.

H&M in March started selling the Madonna range.

``It’s the stock in the industry to own, and celebrity collections by the likes of Madonna are generating lots of buzz for the company,’’ said Simon Blecher, a fund manager who manages the equivalent of $590 million at HQ Fonder AB in Stockholm, including H&M stock. ``There’s enormous momentum in the shares.’’

The shares rose as much as 13.5 kronor, or 3.1 percent, to 443.5 kronor and traded at 438 kronor as of 12:58 p.m. in Stockholm. The stock is up 56 percent in a year, while shares of larger rival Inditex SA are up 51 percent in the period.

``The Madonna collection was clearly significant,’’ said Henrik Schultz, an analyst at Danske Equities in Copenhagen, who advises shareholders buy the retailer’s shares. Inditex, which charges 59.90 euros for overcoats, doesn’t use advertisements or celebrities to model its clothes.

The collection helped H&M with the launch of its new shop in Hong Kong, where hundreds of shoppers flocked to the outlet when it opened on March 10.

The company didn’t provide any detailed figures about the sale of the Madonna range in today’s statement.

Source: Bloomberg.